SLIDE 1 Upper Columbia Salmon Restoration: Breakout session: Columbia River Treaty Review Conference Castlegar, BC March 22nd, 2013
Bill Green Canadian Columbia River Intertribal Fisheries Commission
SLIDE 2 Session Outline
Presentation (20 min.)
- Why now?
- History – what has been lost?
- Feasibility
– Feasibility, impacts and benefits – Provincial concerns – Case studies
Questions, comments, discussion (25 min.)
SLIDE 3 Salmon Restoration: Why now?
- Cultural and resource values of tribes and First
Nations not considered in 1960’s during Treaty negotiations
- Passage costs are less daunting within the
context of total Treaty benefits and this review
- Profound cultural importance to First Nations
and U.S. tribes
SLIDE 4 Treaty Review offers Opportunity
- Comprehensive review of goals and objectives
for total river management
- River & reservoir operations impact passage
potential
- Creates a forum for trans-boundary support
- Recent positive developments in fish passage
technology
- Climate Change - access more diverse/cooler
habitats
SLIDE 5
History: What has been lost?
Brisco, BC (near Radium) 1930’s
Ede family collection
SLIDE 6
History: What has been lost?
Celilo Falls, WA/OR Fishing for ‘June Hogs’ Probably destined for the upper Columbia
SLIDE 7
Some historic salmon spawning and rearing areas in the upper Columbia
SLIDE 8
Some historic First Nations salmon fishing locations in the upper Columbia
SLIDE 9 History: What has been lost?
- Sockeye salmon in Arrow, Slocan and
Whatshan Lakes (runs of 200 – 400,000 plus)
- Summer chinook salmon to the headwaters of
the Columbia at Columbia Lake
- Fall chinook salmon downstream of Arrow and
Slocan Lakes and in the Pend d’Oreille/Salmo
- Total chinook runs 300 – 600,000
- Steelhead in the Pend d’Oreille system
SLIDE 10 History: What has been lost?
First Nations harvest (in BC)
- Average 200,000 chinook/year
- Average 130,000 sockeye/year
George Simpson (HBC, 1824): “…mild climate and availability of salmonid resources made the Indians perfectly independent of us” 1939 study indicated that 85 – 90% of the salmon harvested in-river downstream of Rock Island dam were destined for the upper Columbia
SLIDE 11
Feasibility: Can it be done?
SLIDE 12 Feasibility: Can it be done?
Feasibility, Impacts and Benefits Report, 2007
- Aboriginal rights and title
- Government responsibility
- Political
- Fish passage at dams
- Cumulative mortality at downstream dams
- Dissolved gases
- Operating agreements and laws
SLIDE 13 Feasibility, Impacts and Benefits Report (2007 – cont’d)
- Predation and competition
- Genetics and life history
- Habitat quality/capacity
- Climate warming
- Capital and operating costs
- Government approvals
- Trade-offs
PLUS many impacts and benefits questions UNDOUBTEDLY COMPLEX AND DIFFICULT!!
SLIDE 14
Round Butte Dam, Deschutes River, OR 130 m. high Upstream and downstream passage for chinook salmon
SLIDE 15 Feasibility of restoring upper Columbia River Salmon: FLNRO views
- “In principle, a positive return to former
biodiversity”
- Current funding inadequate for monitoring
and support
- Ecological risks need to be addressed
SLIDE 16
Round Butte Dam: Downstream migrant salmon passage
SLIDE 17
Deschutes River salmon passage
“To date, about two dozen Chinook and a half- dozen sockeye have been released into Lake Billy Chinook — the first adults above the dams in more than four decades. These are special fish. They were reared above the dams, migrated through the new fish collection facility and have returned after making a round-trip journey to the Pacific Ocean.” www.deschutespassage.com August 1, 2012
SLIDE 18
Okanagan River Sockeye Restoration: A Success Story
“BC’s Southern
Okanagan sees record sockeye returns”
CBC News, July 29th, 2012
A result of Okanagan Nation Alliance efforts
SLIDE 19 Okanagan River Sockeye Restoration
1998: 2,000 sockeye spawners 2012: 515,000 sockeye, 90 – 95% Okanagan
the mouth of the Columbia
SLIDE 20 Okanagan River Sockeye Restoration
- Pass through nine dams on the Columbia River
- Fish passage improvements at dams
- Improved management of flows out of
Okanagan Lake
- Okanagan River habitat restoration
- Hatchery stocking
- Passage at McIntyre and Okanagan falls dams,
now into Skaha Lake
SLIDE 21 Case studies: Key Lessons
Deschutes River:
- Start simple: “Trap and truck”
- Passage technologies for high head dams exist
Okanagan River:
- From 2,000 to 200,000+ in 14 years
- Cumulative survival, upstream and downstream,
through nine dams is high enough to allow recovery
- f populations
- Salmon are amazing!
SLIDE 22 A possible next step
Start with decades of research and feasibility studies: engineering, biological, economic, financial, legal, etc. OR? Three year experimental salmon reintroduction to the transboundary reach
- f the Columbia River (Keenleyside to
Coulee)
SLIDE 23 3 Year Experimental Reintroduction
- Chinook salmon
- Release marked fish
into the transboundary reach
their way from the Grand Coulee headpond to spawn successfully upstream
SLIDE 24 3 Year Experimental Reintroduction
Pre-introduction studies:
- Genetics and donor stock selection
- Disease risk assessment and management
- Ecological risk assessment
- Experimental design
SLIDE 25 Upper Columbia Salmon Restoration
- Questions and discussion
- Thank you!
